VA clinic proposed for downtown LV

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 | 9:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Mayor Oscar Goodman and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., are pursuing a plan to construct a new veterans health clinic on the former railroad land in downtown Las Vegas.

The plan could meet two goals: Goodman's crusade to develop a key piece of downtown real estate and Berkley's quest to improve veteran's health care.

Berkley, along with Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have prodded Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi to build a new clinic in the Las Vegas area to replace the Addeliar Guy Ambulatory Care Center, which has structural problems.

Berkley on Wednesday met again with Principi in her office, where the two pored over a panoramic image of Las Vegas and discussed Clark County's growing population of veterans. Principi seemed to support the idea of constructing a new clinic downtown with easy access to interstates, Berkley said.

"We need this clinic and we need it now," Berkley said after the meeting.

Goodman and the Las Vegas City Council have long pondered a diverse list of development plans for the 61 acres between downtown and Interstate 15, north of the County Government Center. Proposals have included a sports arena, a performing arts center and an academic medical center.

The veterans clinic seems to fit into the mayor's "dream" of a state-of-the-art medical complex, his spokeswoman, Elaine Sanchez, said.

Goodman has been pondering the clinic plan in recent weeks, Sanchez said.

The clinic likely would take up less than half of the 61 acres, Berkley staffers said. Estimated costs are not yet available, Berkley said.

In a separate effort, Berkley has also goaded Principi to consider constructing a new full-service veterans hospital for Las Vegas, and this month she introduced legislation directing his department to build one.

The Veterans Affairs Department rarely builds new hospitals, opting instead to offer more outpatient clinics. But Berkley envisions one day expanding a new clinic downtown into a full-service hospital complex.

"We have to be forward-thinking on this," she said.

Meanwhile, Principi told Berkley he would "fast-track" the new 250,000-square-foot clinic to replace the Guy center, she said. The new facility could open within 24 to 36 months, she said, if plans for locating the clinic move swiftly.

The clinic would replace the 5-year-old, 150,000-square foot Guy center, which VA officials say has structural problems. The building's California-based owner asserts that the clinic can be repaired.

But Principi seems convinced that it cannot be repaired and that the clinic should be replaced, Berkley chief-of-staff Richard Urey said.

Guy center officials are already making plans to vacate the center, relocating to six or eight smaller facilities.